Season number one and Cup number one are in the bank!
My lines remained very similar throughout the season. However, toward the trade deadline I dealt Tenkrat for a pick and replaced him with Taylor Pyatt, who is developing into a decent 2-way winger for me.
Forwards
Ovechkin-Marleau-Wolski
Blake-Morrison-Hunter
Michalek-Handzus-Nilson
Pyatt-Kaigorodov-Balastik
Defensemen
Hannan-Morris
Vaananen-Zhitnik
Smid-Hale
Goaltenders
Ward-Hasek
In the playoffs I really messed around with my lines - the oppenent never saw the same look from me in back to back games. My tactics changed as well depending on the opponent.
My goal to acquire a number of high-end prospects has been met - and then some. Take a look at my kids:
Marc Staal - 59GP 24-109-133 +69 9.20 Average Rating
-OHL All-Star
-Won Red Tilson award (OHL's Outstanding Player - selected by the media)
-Won Max Kaminsky (OHL's Most Oustanding Defenseman as selected by league general managers)
-2nd in voting for OHL Star-Player Award
-World Junior winner (7 pts 7.86 rating in tournament)
Bobby Ryan - 47GP 68-78-146 +57 8.79 Average Rating
-2nd in voting for Red Tilson award (OHL's Outstanding Player - selected by the media)
-2nd runner up for Eddie Powers Trophy (OHL leading scorer)
-2nd runner up for Leo Lalonde award (Best OHL Overage Player)
-3rd place at World Juniors (9 pts 8.00 rating in tournament)
Luc Bourdon - 63GP 30-109-139 +42 9.21 Average Rating
-QMJHL All-Star
-Won QMJHL Defensive Player of the Year
-Won Emile Bouchard Trophy (Best QMJHL Defensemen)
-Won Michele Briere Trophy (QMJHL Most Valuable Player)
-Won Kevin Lowe Trophy (QMJHL Best Defensive Defensemen)
-Won QMJHL Star-Player Award
-World Junior winner (1 pt 6.75 rating in tournament)
Steve Downie - 62GP 50-77-127 +28 8.56 Average Rating
-OHL All-Star
-World Juniors winner (6 pts 8.20 rating in tournament)
Kristopher Letang - 70GP 41-92-133 +3 8.51 Average Rating
-QMJHL All-Star
-Frank J. Selke Award Runner-Up (QMJHL Most Sportsmanlike Player)
-3rd place in QMJHL Star Player Award voting
DANG! Enough said.
As for the players actually on my team this season, here are some highlights:
Alexander Ovechkin - 82GP 58-59-117 +98 8.21 Average Season Rating
-2nd Team NHL All-Star
-Conn Smythe Winner
-Rocket Richard winner
-Plus/Minus award winner
-3rd in Art Ross
Patrick Marleau - 82 GP 43-87-130 +79 8.72 Average Season Rating
-1st Team NHL All-Star
-Art Ross winner
-Hart Trophy winner
-Lester B. Pearson award winner
-Conn Smythe Runner-up
-Plus/Minus award runner up
Wojtek Wolski - 82GP 26-48-74 +75 7.49 Average Season Rating
-All-Rookie NHL All-Star
-3rd place in Calder
-Plus/Minus award 2nd runner up
Brendan Morrison - 80GP 30-48-78 +39 7.78 Average Season Rating
-Conn Smyth 2nd runner up
Derek Morris - 82GP 10-52-62 +73 7.72 Average Season Rating
-Norris Trophy winner
Alexei Zhitnik - 78GP 34-36-70 +44 7.79 Average Season Rating
-1st Team NHL All-Star
Cam Ward - 66GP 45-15-3 2.44GAA 0.908S%
-2nd Team NHL All-Star
-Vezina Trophy winner
-William M. Jennings award
Robbie Ftorek wins the Jack Adams award.
The only player that didn't quite play to my expectations was Wolski. I fully expected him to win the Calder playing the whole year with AO and Marleau. Oh well.
All in all I would say it was a very successful year. I don't have many draft picks left, but I've got an excellent crop of youngsters waiting to take over feeding the puck to AO.
So...while I didn't break any records this year (the aim of my starting this game) I'm hopeful that I've started a solid foundation and I'll have AO scoring 100 in no time!
Cheers and thanks for reading! (I know it's long!)